It's just getting kicked from the second floor to the first, nothing major.
As soon as Natsu got back up, he wanted to fight Rhode.
But Erza held him back: "Let's search for clues first. I don't think Lucy would just leave without a word."
Even without her saying so, Happy was already rummaging through everything.
Messing with Mira's stuff might get you in trouble, but messing with Lucy's has no consequences, and it even feels like an adventure.
Rhode thought it wasn't good to just start rummaging: "Natsu, can't you sniff out Lucy's scent to find her?"
Natsu looked at him strangely: "Are you an idiot? Lucy's scent is everywhere in her house."
Rhode's fist tightened, insulted by being called an idiot by an idiot himself: "I meant go outside and sniff. Lucy wouldn't be hiding at home avoiding us."
Natsu and Happy looked at him, then hit their palms simultaneously: "Oh, she's not hiding here after all!"
Truly idiots.
Rhode sighed: "So what were you searching for all that time?"
Natsu lifted Lucy's blanket and looked under the bed: "I thought Lucy might be hiding under the blanket, or something like that. Then she could jump out unexpectedly and scare us."
"Is she that bored?"
"Oh, Rhode, you don't get it, Lucy sometimes wants to do things like that." Happy flew over to the trash can, peeked inside, then flew up again, "We even thought she might be hiding in this trash can or the cabinet above."
Rhode sighed: "Even if she were hiding, who would hide in such obvious places?"
Natsu gave him a thumbs-up: "That sounds a lot like something Lucy would say."
"Whoa!" Happy suddenly fell down, buried under a pile of envelopes.
He had just opened a cabinet door.
"What are these, letters?" Gray picked up a few envelopes, "'To Mom', 'To Mom'... seems like they're all written to her mom. Why didn't she send them out?"
"If the recipient is just 'Mom' without a name or address, how could they be sent out?" Rhode picked up an envelope and looked at it, "Maybe... Lucy never intended to send them."
Such groundless speculation is somewhat impolite, but Rhode thought maybe Lucy's mom might...
Natsu, without a second thought, tore open one and began reading:
"'Mom, I finally joined the Fairy Tail I've always dreamed of. The people and things here are crazy messy, but it's a great place. Haha, this might sound contradictory, but I really like it...'"
Gray-binaz-do knew a bit of etiquette: "Hey, don't just open other people's letters."
But Natsu ignored him and immediately opened another.
This is exactly why Rhode had just kicked Natsu down. This guy never listens.
"'Mom, I met Erza today. She's so cool and beautiful...'"
Receiving such unexpected praise, Erza blushed a bit.
"Alright, stop reading. Lucy's gone home." Rhode waved a note in his hand, found on her desk, which no one had looked at during their search.
Lucy seemed certain someone would break in and thought leaving a note at home would suffice.
Somehow it seems a bit pitiful.
"Gone home?!" Everyone was shocked, "Could she still be blaming herself?!"
"Not necessarily." Rhode pondered, "She mentioned before about wanting to clear things up with her father and end this properly."
"Isn't it her father wanting to take her back?" Erza pondered, "Could there be danger?"
"Hard to say, she might run into trouble." Rhode wasn't sure what Lucy's father was like or whether he'd forcibly keep her at home, "Shall we catch up and see?"
Natsu, Happy, and Gray replied in unison: "Isn't it obvious?!"
…
It's easy to find out the Hartfilia family's address.
Normally, they should take the train, but Natsu said they'd have to wait a long time for a train, and Lucy might be in danger, so why not just take the River Crab straight away.
Reasonably suspecting he had ulterior motives, but Rhode didn't refuse either.
Lucy had already left for quite a while, best to act early rather than late.
Erza and Gray took one, and Rhode went with Natsu and Happy on another.
The River Crabs sped towards the city outskirts, and Rhode took out a notebook to write down the reasons, then called a Beaked Bird to send it back to the guild.
Soon after, the Beaked Bird flew back with a reply.
Rhode read it, smiled, jotted down a few more words, and sent it back via another Beaked Bird.
The two exchanged notes like this several times, until they were too far, and the replies were too slow to continue.
Gray couldn't help but ask, "What have you been doing since leaving Magnolia?"
"Of course, telling Mira about our whereabouts." Rhode said, "Otherwise, first Lucy goes missing, and then we do, won't that drive everyone crazy?"
"I see, I didn't think it through." At times like this, Erza was always adept at self-reflection,
"In my haste, I forgot such an important matter. To think I was entrusted by the President to help look after the guild, how unqualified of me."
Gray wondered aloud: "Does saying that require sending so many letters?"
Happy raised a paw: "Aye, and laughing so creepily too."
Rhode grabbed Happy and tugged at his face: "And I discussed some project arrangements too. Got a problem with that? I'll make you carry cement when we get back."
Happy caved instantly: "I'm sorry!"
Once Rhode let him go, Happy quickly flew over to the other River Crab, hiding behind Gray: "Abuse of power, retaliatory, petty."
"Alright, alright, when we get there I'll show you pettiness."
"I'm going to report to Mira."
"She'll help me scold you too."
"...Gray, protect me."
"Solve your own problems."
"Natsu!"
"..." Natsu pondered, was Happy more important or was the River Crab more important?
Erza patted Happy on the head: "Don't worry, Happy."
"Erza..." Happy was a bit moved, truly Erza was the most reliable.
Erza said: "You can solve it our guild's way, go and have a fair duel with Rhode."
"Give me back my touched feelings!" Happy burst into tears.
They left in a playful bustle.
At that time, Jubia had just left the city and lost track of them, and had to dejectedly return.
Initially, she had an interest in Gray, but after observing at the Strong Detention Team's camp for days, she started to become interested in this guild.
In the past couple of days, she even had a bold thought — how great it would be to join this guild.
But she was once a Ghost, an enemy of Fairy Tail, and had attacked Lucy.
Even though she got beaten up in the end and heard the words of President Makarov, Jubia still didn't have the courage to speak up.